Make California Post a Preferred Source It took only seconds for a frightening hit to turn the Coliseum into a powder keg for both teams.
Moments after USC linebacker Desman Stephens II delivered a brutal forearm to the head of a sliding Dante Moore, knocking the Oregon quarterback from the game, players from both teams converged near the spot.
Several Oregon players immediately began pushing and shoving Stephens II. The Junior USC linebacker put his arms up in the air to show the officials he wasn’t fighting back. The pushing and shoving brought more bodies into the scrum and soon thereafter, Trojans and Ducks were chest-to-chest in a heated scrum while assistant coaches raced onto the field to try and keep an already ugly scene from boiling over.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was even seen pointing and yelling at his counterpart, USC head coach Lincoln Riley on the opposing sideline.
All of it unfolded as Moore remained down on the turf nearby.
Officials eventually restored order and assessed offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to USC and Oregon, while Stephens was ejected for targeting.
The penalties canceled each other out on the scoreboard, but the emotions certainly didn’t.
Moore eventually was placed on a stretcher, transferred to a gurney and loaded into an ambulance before being transported to a hospital, bringing a sobering end to a sequence that briefly turned one of college football’s biggest games into something much more serious.
At halftime, Lanning gave an update on Moore that he was “moving his extremities” before being taken to the hospital in the ambulance.
“We’re getting him checked out,” said Lanning on the broadcast. “Obviously we’ve got to be very thorough with that looks like. We’re all praying for him right now.”
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